As outlined in recent court papers filed in the trial, prosecutors claim that the alleged conspiracy was run by a "significant" and "well-organized" Muslim Brotherhood infrastructure inside the United States that included a vast array of Muslim groups--such as CAIR and ISNA--that facilitated the Holy Land's activities even though the entities themselves did not directly commit any crimes. One apparent government goal in the trial (which is now under way) is to show the common Muslim Brotherhood roots of Holy Land and the other U.S. Muslim organizations--a potentially significant point to make to the jury, given the government's claim that Hamas itself is the "Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood." Holy Land lawyers are contesting all of the government's charges and claim that Holy Land and its officers were simply raising money for social-welfare programs to benefit Palestinians, not terrorism.

All this begs the question of whether the Brotherhood and its alleged affiliates are, or in any way should be, suspect. The Muslim Brotherhood's leadership in Egypt has officially renounced terrorism and violence, prompting some U.S. officials, especially in the State Department, to argue that the U.S. government should reconsider its longtime position of refusing to talk with members of the organization.

But many law-enforcement and intelligence officials remain suspicious--and they are likely to find support for their view in the mother lode of documents now being introduced into evidence in the Holy Land case. One such document, a 1991 memorandum written by an apparent Muslim Brotherhood activist, is titled "Understanding the Role of the Muslim Brother in North America." It states: "The Ikhwan [Brothers] must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions." In a recent blog post, terror researcher Douglas Farah (coauthor with Stephen Braun of the new book "Merchant of Death") called the document "the smoking gun … on the Muslim Brotherhood's multifaceted plan to convert the United States to an Islamic nation."

Justice officials are not about to publicly endorse such a dark view of the Brotherhood--much less condemn all of the group's alleged affiliates in the United States. Indeed, they say their understanding of the web of relationships among U.S.-based groups linked to the Brotherhood is murky at best--and needs to be further investigated. That was one reason why they were concerned about the event with Gonzales at Justice even while others--including senior officials of the FBI--contend those investigations will never get anywhere without more effective "Muslim outreach."

Terror Watch, written by Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball appears online weekly

© 2007